


Togetherness

by ElAlmaDelMar



Series: A/B/O/tober 2020 [15]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Everyone is just having a good tactile time, Gen, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Scent Marking, Social grooming, but i wasn't really going for shippy, but lightly so, maybe some hints of zosan and sanuso
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27037087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElAlmaDelMar/pseuds/ElAlmaDelMar
Summary: Moving around in their little boat was a chancy thing, especially when one of themcouldn't fucking swim. But at Luffy's insistence, undergirded with just a hint of a nascent alpha dominance he seemed entirely unaware of, the two of them shuffled around until Zoro was lounging back against his new captain's knees, in the perfect position for Luffy to spread both hands against his scalp and work his fingers in slow, small circles.A/B/O/tober Day 15: Social grooming
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Nami, Monkey D. Luffy & Roronoa Zoro, Monkey D. Luffy & Usopp, Roronoa Zoro & Sanji, Sanji & Usopp
Series: A/B/O/tober 2020 [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947415
Comments: 21
Kudos: 153





	Togetherness

Luffy was surprisingly good at grooming. 

Moving around in their little boat was a chancy thing, especially when one of them _couldn't fucking swim_. But at Luffy's insistence, undergirded with just a hint of a nascent alpha dominance he seemed entirely unaware of, they shuffled around until Zoro was lounging back against his new captain's knees, in the perfect position for Luffy to spread both hands against his scalp and work his fingers in slow, small circles. Zoro didn't really need much actual _grooming_ — and that was very deliberate, thanks — but this sort of massage counted, and it felt startlingly good. Grooming, after all, was how people bonded, whether mates, packmates, or friends. 

He'd never let Johnny or Yosaku do this for him, nor had he done it for them. The truth of the matter was, the topic had never come up. Zoro didn't care about such things, and he had a feeling the other two were too intimidated to suggest that Roronoa Zoro might want something as simple and human as friendly grooming. Luffy, he was realizing, didn't _get_ intimidated. And he seemed very, very intent on getting his hands into Zoro's hair. 

Eh, fine by him. It felt nice, and he could doze while Luffy's fingers rubbed over his scalp, leaving him lightly touched with his new captain's scent. There was nothing sexual about it, and he'd already made it damn clear to Luffy that he didn't _belong_ to any alpha, no matter what he smelled like. He could relax.

* * *

"Don't touch me," Nami said the first time Luffy asked if she wanted to be groomed. 

There was real venom in her voice with that snap — it was enough to draw Zoro's attention, although he sure as hell didn't feel like putting himself in the middle between her defensiveness and Luffy's high affection drive. That was a contest of wills the two of them could sort out by themselves. But how very defensive she was… that made him curious. Added up to the image he'd been assembling in his mind of someone with a lot more going on than they knew about. 

"Nami, why?" Luffy whined. "It feels good! Besides, we're a crew now, right? So we should all groom each other." 

"You boys can do that if you want," she said. "No one grooms me. That's the rule." 

For a moment, Luffy looked like he was going to continue arguing — but then, abruptly, he shrugged, and all the tension drained out of the moment. "Okay." He flopped himself across Zoro's knees and pulled his hat off, a blatant request for attention that Zoro wasn't going to deny. He began to finger-comb Luffy's shaggy hair, smoothing out the dimpled ring left by the habitual pressure of the hat. Truth was, it was just as soothing to be on the giving end of this attention as it was on the receiving end. Felt good — felt like belonging. Like _pack_. Rubbing his own scent onto Luffy and earning soft little murrs of contentment… yeah. Good stuff.

* * *

They had a real ship now, and another new nakama to go with her. As they sailed away from Syrup Village, Luffy bounded from rail to rail, taking in the very different experience of sailing in a real ship instead of a pathetic little dinghy. "Whoa, there's so much room! This is great! We can play games and run around!" 

More like, Zoro could stretch himself out comfortably and nap in the sun. But Luffy getting some energy out of his system was no bad thing, and he was just dozing off when he heard Luffy say, "Oi, Usopp. C'mere." 

For that, he opened his eyes. If Nami's reaction to Luffy's grooming urge had been interesting, he was sure Usopp's would be too. A measure of their new crewmate.

Usopp looked puzzled as he obeyed Luffy's instructions — come here, turn around, sit down. And then Luffy slid his fingers into Usopp's tight black curls, and Usopp's eyes went enormous — startled first, and then soft, and Zoro would have sworn the kid was trying valiantly not to cry. 

Luffy seemed oblivious. "Your hair feels really nice," he commented. "It's so different from Zoro's." 

"Y-yeah." _Definitely_ trying not to cry, and only barely succeeding. "You're… um. You're really good at that, Luffy." 

"Hm?" Luffy leaned forward, his hands continuing their motions, stirring Usopp's thick hair as he rubbed his scalp. "Oh, heh. Yeah. I like it." 

"Usopp, are you okay?" Nami asked, looking at him with the faintest hint of a frown. "You look a little—" 

"Oh, I'm fine!" Loud, brittle laughter chased away the hint of tears. "The great Captain Usopp has received some of the most exquisite scalp massages ever known to—" 

"Sit down." Luffy tugged Usopp's hair. "I can't keep doin' this if you stand up." 

Immediately, Usopp thunked back to a seat at Luffy's knees. Apparently there was _something_ that could shut him up, at least.

* * *

Zoro's first thought was that this stupid alpha waiter with the curly eyebrow had the most amazingly punchable face he'd ever seen. 

His second thought was that the crown of gleaming blond hair over that eminently punchable face looked like pure fucking silk, and holy _shit_ did he want to touch it. 

Luffy was a bad influence on him, he concluded. He'd submitted to his captain's grooming with initial apathy, and then growing enjoyment — and had continued on to do a little mutual grooming with Usopp, omega and beta scents rubbing up on each other in a way that reinforced all those good pack nakama feelings starting to go around. And now he was thinking about what it would be like to groom a total stranger, and a really fucking annoying one to boot. _Ugh._

* * *

They sailed away from Cocoyashi, and the sea change in Nami's bearing and personality was tremendous. Her eyes were brighter, her scent less tangled, her body language less wary. She really was free. 

With the sails set and the skies clear, Luffy was trying to alternately bully and cajole Sanji into a grooming session; the cook had started out with a solid position of "I don't let any men groom me, only lovely ladies!" and was steadily being worked down to "Look, not _now_ , okay?" Zoro was trying not to hover — god damn, he really did want to get his hands on that blond hair. Not to mention, rub his scent all over him. It'd serve the bastard right for calling him smelly. 

That was when Nami chose to approach their little group, looking uncharacteristically subdued. 

"Um," she said. "Luffy?" 

"Yeah!" It was easy enough to pull his attention away from anything he was doing, so long as that anything wasn't eating. He twisted around, facing her squarely. "What is it, Nami?" 

"Will you…" She hesitated, and the last few words came out in a rush. "Will you groom me?" 

Luffy answered her not in words but in a raucous cheer. He might be stupid, Zoro realized, but when it mattered, he _understood_. And within moments, Nami was settled between Luffy's knees, and his hands were working up the back of her neck into her short hair, rubbing pack-scent on her and welcoming her as truly one of them.

* * *

Sanji didn't last much longer after that. Although he put up plenty of token grumbling — enough that Luffy bopped him on the head before starting to groom him — he submitted to their captain's hands. And then to Usopp's, after a long story all about how the Great Captain Usopp had studied the fine secrets of shoulder rubs from the mysterious hidden massage temples of the Secret Hidden Islands… 

Zoro half thought Sanji had agreed just to make Usopp shut up. But the fact was, their marksman and wannabe captain was damn good with his hands. He watched the two of them, eyes half-lidded, and told himself he wasn't jealous that Usopp got to be the first one after Luffy to touch that ridiculously appealing hair. Definitely not. Now that Sanji had relaxed his no-men rule, surely they were all going to get a turn. 

"You're good at this," Sanji commented as his body relaxed, seemingly almost against his will. "Guess it comes with practice." 

"Ah yes, the gr-" 

"No, no, not all that bullshit. I mean you and Luffy and the moss. You guys do this a lot." 

"... Yeah, we do." Usopp smiled over Sanji's head, a little rueful at getting his speech cut off. "Luffy's really into it, and the rest of us have gotten pretty used to it all, you know? And…" he hesitated, then lowered his voice so that Zoro had to strain to hear. "After my mom died, no one touched me for a long time. I've had to get used to it all over again." 

That seemed to startle something in the cook; he pulled away a little, turned to look at the sniper. "... I know how that is," he said, even lower. "Going untouched like that." 

Fuck it. Fuck it. Zoro wanted to join them, wanted to be in the middle of that moment of connection and bonding. But how the fuck was he going to interrupt something like that? 

Later, he decided. Later, he was gonna groom the shit out of Usopp for having been alone so long, and later, he was gonna make sure he got his hands all over Sanji. 

Apparently he really was just as addicted as Luffy, now. 

There were worse things to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we go, here's the first fic of this challenge I know I'm gonna add a second chapter to. If I were writing this on a weekend when I could have committed the whole day to it, I would have tried to get the entire thing out at once, but sadly, I only had a couple hours after work to write, and that meant not being able to get down all the ideas I have for this prompt. So, here's part 1, and at some point (probably after the end of the month, to be honest) I'll circle back and write down all the rest of my ideas for this theme. 
> 
> Come chat with me on my [Discord server](https://discord.gg/SWVYBBn)!


End file.
